Big 3 want to improve

New Jersey Nets coach Lawrence Frank is the latest to be impressed by how Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen have turned the Celtics into winners.

“You’re looking at three guys who are high-level players,” Frank said before the Nets visited Celtics last night at the Garden, “who experienced losing. They’ve tasted winning, but they’ve experienced losing and I think they’ve all united with a chip on their shoulders. So when you add talented guys who are extremely motivated and play different positions that complement each other, you have the potential to be a high-level team. And so far their supporting cast has been underrated.”

People are comparing the Celtics to the Patriots, not only because they’re both unbeaten but because they both insist they can play a lot better.

Captain Paul Pierce wants to cut down on turnovers. Coach Doc Rivers wants to close out games better so the Big Three can play fewer minutes. Allen averages just over 40 while Pierce and Garnett average nearly 40.

“I hear on the news, ‘They sound like the Patriots,’ but it’s the truth,” Rivers said.

Asked if he could remember being on a longer streak than Boston’s 7-0 start, Pierce said, “It depends on what kind of streak you’re talking about.”

The Celtics lost 18 in a row last year remember.

Eddie House didn’t play after spraining his left ankle in the fourth quarter the night before at Indiana and was replaced on the active roster by rookie Gabe Pruitt. Vince Carter missed his second game for the Nets since spraining his right ankle against the Celtics Saturday night in New Jersey.

House provides the Celtics with a sharp shooter off the bench, but Carter is New Jersey’s second-leading scorer.

Rivers expected the Nets to trap Kevin Garnett more in the paint because he couldn’t pass the ball out to House for the quick jumper.

When rookie Rajon Rondo gets his shot blocked or misses a foul shot, he seems to make up for it by stealing the ball at the other end.

“He’s up and down. You can’t forget it’s his second year,” Rivers said.

Rivers wants Rondo to take the ball to the basket more and shoot it rather than pass it back out.

“We can’t expect more out of Rajon,” Rivers said. “We have to just expect him to keep growing. Now all of sudden, he’s thrust in this position where you want this point guard to carry the team. He’s going to just keep getting better as the year goes along and I’m going to try to be patient with him.”

As the Celtics left the locker room at halftime Tuesday at Indiana, James Posey urged them to throw out the trash.

“The end of that second quarter was chippy to say the least,” Rivers said. “It needed to be said by a player.”

Nets forward Sean Williams played his first game in Boston since he was thrown off the Boston College team last winter for violating team rules. The 6-foot-10 center-forward scored a season-high 14 points to go with 7 rebounds and 4 blocks. He leads rookies with 2.4 blocks a game and also averages 7.2 points and 4.6 rebounds in 16.3 minutes..

“He’s played above expectations to this point,” Frank said. “The key for him, and it’s not fair to judge him yet on it, is consistency.”

Williams gives the Nets an athletic big man who can play above the rim and block shots — something they don’t otherwise have.

“He played with amazing energy and his athleticism is scary,” Rivers said. “He remembered me of Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin for a couple of moments, which we don’t like. I don’t want to see that combination ever again.”

Williams isn’t surprised he could block shots as easily in the NBA as he did in college.

“I could block shots before I could even play basketball,” he said.

Williams insisted he wasn’t concerned about what kind of reception he’d get in Boston after being forced to leave BC, saying that if the fans appreciated what he could do on the court, that’s all that mattered.

Williams warmed up before the game with a tooth pick in his mouth.

With his tongue planted firmly in his check, Frank said, “I would think that that’s a respect factor to Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn and that group. I think he’s a big Mark Twain fan.”

The Celtics assigned rookie Brandon Wallace to the Utah Flash, their affiliate in the NBA Development League. The 6-9 forward from South Carolina averaged 1.2 rebounds in 4.7 minutes in the preseason and did not play in a regular-season game for the Celtics. The Flash opens its season Nov. 24 at Anaheim.